Just a couple of months after a dramatic explosion scattered flaming debris over the Turks and Caicos, SpaceX attempted another launch of its huge Starship rocket. Unfortunately, contact was lost just minutes into the flight as the spacecraft began to tumble and eventually break apart over Florida.
The rocket, measuring 403 feet tall, took off from Texas, and SpaceX managed to catch the first-stage booster with mechanical arms back at the launch pad. However, the upper part of the rocket lost power while heading east, which was meant to be a controlled descent over the Indian Ocean. Instead, it spiraled out of control.
Starship reached an altitude of nearly 90 miles before trouble overshadowed the mission. Video captured from Florida showed debris falling from the sky, including around Cape Canaveral. This flight was supposed to last about an hour, but it ended far short of that goal.
“We’ve been here before,” remarked SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot during the launch coverage. The company confirmed that there was “a rapid unscheduled disassembly” during the ascent. This is a polite way of saying the rocket broke apart. SpaceX quickly coordinated with safety officials to manage the situation.
NASA has high hopes for Starship, planning to use it for future moon landings. Elon Musk aims even higher with plans for it to one day journey to Mars. On this test flight, Starship carried mock satellites designed to simulate a future mission where they would be deployed into space. These satellites mirrored SpaceX’s Starlink satellites that currently orbit our planet.
In preparation for upcoming tests, SpaceX redesigned Starship’s flaps, computers, and fuel systems with the goal of safely returning the rocket to the launch site, similar to how the booster was captured recently. In a prior test, the booster successfully returned, but Starship ended its flight in a fiery explosion over the Atlantic Ocean, causing no reported injuries or significant damage.
Previously, an ongoing investigation pointed to a fuel leak that caused engine failures, leading to the self-destruct system activating as intended. After that incident, SpaceX took steps to improve the spacecraft, and recently, the Federal Aviation Administration gave Starship the green light for another launch attempt.
Starship launches occur from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexico border, but SpaceX is also building a new facility at Cape Canaveral. This site is already home to the smaller Falcon rockets that transport astronauts and satellites into orbit.
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Source linkSpaceX, Starship, test flight
